Michael Rock Learned the Truth About Going Solar

After THINKING about solar for years, I finally decided to get serious and start doing some research about it last summer. We checked out a few companies and decided to pull the trigger with Isaksen Solar in November.

We chose Isaksen because, first and foremost, they are a local company. But they also took the time to really explain to us exactly how the whole process would work, from start to finish, and there was no "hard sell" to get us to sign up if they had felt solar wasn't right for us.

Now that I'm more than six months into my solar experience, I thought I'd offer feedback about what it's like to be a solar customer.

It happened quickly. The turnaround time for the installation was really fairly quick. I'd estimate that it was a matter of 2-3 weeks from the moment we made our decision to the time we were looking up at solar panels on our roof. The actual installation took about 2-3 days. The one drawback was that we needed to be home for part of the installation while the Isaksen Solar team completed wiring work in the attic. I'd say it was about half a day off from work.

It works best if you are financially disciplined. Yes, it is tempting to take the massive tax credit check and go on a once-in-a-lifetime European vacation, but that’s not what you should do. You should put all of your tax credits and incentive checks from the state towards the loan for your solar panels. If you spend the money on other things, it will make your loan bill too high. In essence, that would be taking out a loan for solar and using a chunk of it to go on vacation. No financial planner would advise that. Paying down your loan with the incentive money will greatly reduce your monthly bill. If everything goes as planned, your monthly bill will be less than what you were paying for standard electricity. Then, after a few years, you’ll no longer have your monthly loan bill and you’ll have free energy at your home. What a selling point!

You may have to sacrifice some shade. I was hesitant to cut down some of the trees in my backyard, but it was the right move. I live in the middle of the forest. Cutting down a handful of trees has increased the sunshine on my roof tremendously. This has caused our energy production to grow to higher than the levels Isaksen Solar originally told us to expect. We have now received three Eversource bills in a row where we had to pay nothing. In fact, Eversource has owed us money for each of the past three months—and we haven’t even entered summer yet (the biggest solar energy months).

They're not an eyesore. The truth of the matter is, guests in my home that arrive at night (when the panels can’t be seen) have absolutely no idea that we are powered by solar energy. There is absolutely no difference. If your panels are facing the backyard (like mine are), almost no one will ever see them. Even if people do see them, they are really not an eyesore. To me, they look kind of cool and futuristic. Isaksen Solar does a great job of making sure the panels can fit in with the aesthetic of your house.

Green is good. My solar panels make me feel like I’m a member of the Earth-loving millennials; it’s a very “green” thing to do. My kids are thrilled that we’ve gone green. Little do they know that it was the “other” kind of green that motivated me. I mean, I love the Earth, but I really love money. It’s just nice that this helps keep our planet happy and my wallet full. If I had known how much I'd be saving, I would have called Isaken Solar a lot sooner.